The instant invention relates to the area of lamps, and more particularly, to lamp bases having a transparent tubular base for holding decorative fabrics or articles, such a photos, memorabilia, etc., which may be easily changed by the owner as desired. The fabric or memorabilia or other items are held in place against the interior surface of the transparent base by providing a simple outwardly tensioned interior sheet or sleeve which can press the decorative material or items into place.
Although there have been numerous designs for lamps which have a wide variety of different types of bases, no lamp to date has shown such flexibility in the display and presentation of materials which are of special interest to the user. Two issued U.S. Patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,998 issued to Anderson, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,177,204 issued to Buzick, et al., disclose lamp shades which are capable of displaying photos which are illuminated by the lamp, but neither of these patents has the same flexibility of the present invention in holding a wide variety of decorative articles, such as upholstery fabrics or wallpaper, in the interior of the base of the lamp.
Other patents found in the prior art disclose designs embodying various functional articles in lamp bases such a fish tanks, U.S. Pat. No. 1,944,040 issued to Tam, or terrariums, U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,848 issued to Murray. Only one issued patent appears to change the decoration of a lamp base and this is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,863,607 issued to Sabath. However, this disclosure required an extensive bracket system to secure a transparent photo or slide which is illuminated by a second light bulb located in the lamp base. It does not use a simple inner sleeve in order to secure and display the decorative articles. Moreover, it is incorporated in a standard ceramic base lamp, and the picture displayed is not behind a simple transparent tube which serves as the main portion of the lamp base itself.
In particular, the present invention allows the lamp user to change coordinating decorative fabric or wallpaper each time upholstery or wall paper are changed so that the lamp may be updated along with changes in home fashions. Until now, the consuming public had to change lamps each time they updated the decor of a room since it was very difficult, if not impossible, to select a furnishing that continued to be in style for a long period of time. As a result, most people would have living rooms or other areas of their home which would look dated after a period of time inasmuch as the decorating budget of the average homeowner or renter simply could not keep up with changing fashions.